Memorial Verses
Verses
Below is a selection of some verses used for our memorial cards, wallet cards and bookmarks.
V1
Though your smile is gone
forever,
And your hand we cannot touch.
We shall never lose sweet memories
Of you we loved so much.
May you rest in peace
dear loved one
In that Heavenly home above
With the Sacred Heart of Jesus
In His own eternal love.
Gone from us but leaving
memories,
Death can never take away
Memories that will
always linger,
While upon this earth we stay.
V2
Feed not your loneliness
On empty days,
But fill each waking hour
In useful ways.
Reach out your hand
In comfort and in cheer
And I in turn will comfort you
And hold you near;
And never, never be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you
In the sky!.
V3
May heaven hold a place for you,
Where you can dig and plant
Flowers of the humblest kind,
And those of rarest scent.
V4
SERENITY PRAYER
GOD grant me
the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change . . .
Courge to change
the things I can
and Wisdom
to know
the difference.
V5
God called your name so gently,
That only you could hear,
No one heard the footsteps,
of the Angels drawing near.
You left us so many memories,
To us you were so dear,
No matter when we needed you
We always found you near.
You gave us all you had to give,
Gifts both big and small,
But most of all you gave us love,
The greatest gift of all.
V6
A loved one lives forever
in the hearts
Of those who cared,
A loved one lives forever
In the memories
that were shared.
V7
FOOTPRINTS
One night a man had a dream. He dreamt he was
walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the
sky flashed scenes from his life. Each scene, he
noticed had two sets of footprints in the sand; one
belonging to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he
looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed
that many times along the path of his life there was
only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it
happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his
life. This really bothered him and he questioned the
Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to
follow you, you’d walk with me all the way but I have
noticed that during the most troublesome times in
my life, there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why when I needed you most you
would leave me. The Lord replied, “My precious,
precious child, I love you and I would never leave
you. During your times of trial and suffering when
you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I
carried you.”
V8
TO THOSE I LOVE AND TO
THOSE WHO LOVE ME
When I am gone, release me, let me go,
I have so many things to see and do.
You mustn’t tie yourself to me in tears,
Be happy that we had so many years.
I gave to you my love, you can only guess how
Much you gave to me in happiness.
I thank you for the love you each have shown,
But now it’s time I travelled on alone.
So grieve a while for me, if grieve you must,
Then let your grief be comforted by trust.
It’s only for a while that we must part,
So bless the memories within your heart.
I won’t be far away, for life goes on,
So if you need me, call and I will come,
Though you can’t see or touch me, I’ll be near,
And if you listen with your heart, you’ll hear
all my love around you soft and clear.
And then, when you must come this way alone,
I’ll greet you with a smile and a
“WELCOME HOME”.
V9
May He support us
all the day long
till the shadows lengthen
and the evening comes
and the busy world
Is hushed and the fever of
life is over
and our work is done.
Then in his mercy
may he give us a safe
lodging and a holy rest
and peace at the last.
Cardinal Newman
V10
GOD’S GARDEN
God looked around his garden
and found an empty place.
He then looked down upon the earth
and saw your tired face.
He put His arms around you
and lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering,
He knew you were in pain,
He knew that you would never
get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
and the hill was hard to climb,
So He closed your weary eyelids
and whispered “Peace be thine”.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
for part of us went with you
the day God called you home.
V11
A PRAYER FOR THOSE I LOVE
I did not die young
I lived my span of life
Within your body
And within your love.
There are many
Who have lived long lives
And not been loved as me.
If you would honour me,
Then speak my name
And number me among your family.
If you would honour me
Then strive to live in love,
For in that love, I live.
Never ever doubt
That we will meet again.
Until that happy day
I will grow with God
And wait for you.
V12
We hold you close within
our hearts
And there you shall remain,
To walk with us
throughout our lives,
Until we meet again.
So rest in peace
Dear (name),
And thanks for all you’ve done.
We pray that God
has given you,
The crown you’ve truly won.
V13
Will those who think of him today
A little prayer to Jesus say.
V14
LOVE
Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack anything?
‘A guest’, I answered, ‘worthy to be here’.
Love said, ‘You shall be he’.
‘I, the unkind, ungrateful?
Ah, my dear, I cannot look on thee’.
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
‘Who made the eyes but I?’
‘Truth, Lord, but I have marred them;
let my shame go where it doth deserve’.
‘And know you not’, says Love,
‘who bore the blame?’
‘My dear then I will serve’.
‘You must sit down’, says Love,
‘and taste my meat’.
So I did sit and eat.
George Herbert
V15
I’M FREE
Don’t grieve for me for now I’m free.
I’m following the path God laid for me.
I took His hand when I heard Him call,
I turned my back and left it all. I could
not stay another day, to laugh, to love,
to work or play. Tasks left undone
must stay that way, I found that peace
at close of day. If my parting has left
a void, then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,
Ah yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow,
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I’ve savoured much,
good friends, good times, a loved one’s
touch. Perhaps my time seemed all
too brief, don’t lengthen it now with
undue grief, lift up your hearts and
share with me.
God wanted me now.
He set me free.
V16
WHEN I LEAVE
I am about to leave; my last breath does not say
“goodbye” for my love for you is truly timeless.
I leave myself not to the undertaker and the grave,
but to your memory with love. I leave my thoughts,
my laughter, my dreams to you whom I have
treasured. I give you what no thief can steal, the
memories of our times together, the tender love-
filled moments of successes we have shared,
the hard times that brought us closer together and
the roads we walked side by side. I also leave you
a solemn promise that after I am home in the bosom
of God, I will still be present in the communion of
Saints, whenever and wherever you are in need,
call me; I will come to you, with my arms full of
wisdom and light to open up your blocked paths,
to untangle your knots and to be your avenue to
God. And all I take with me as I leave is your
love nd the millions of memories of all that we have
shared. So fear not nor grieve at my departure,
you whom I have loved so much, for my roots and
yours are forever intertwined.
V17
TOGETHERNESS
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Whatever we were to each other, that we
are still. Call me by my old familiar name,
speak to me in the easy way which you
always used. Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play,
smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name
be the household word that it always was;
let it be spoken without effort. Life means all
that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever;
there is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of your mind because
I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you,
for an interval, somewhere very near just
round the corner. All is well. Nothing is
past; nothing is lost. One brief moment
and all will be as it was before – only better,
infinitely happier and for ever we will all be
one together with Christ.
V18
Lord, make me
an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving tht we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to
Eternal Life.
Prayer of St. Francis.
V19
HIS JOURNEY’S JUST BEGUN
Don’t think of him as gone away,
His journey’s just begun,
Life holds so may facets,
This earth is only one.
Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears,
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days and years.
Think how he must be wishing
that he could know today
How nothing but our sadness
can really pass away
And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched,
For nothing loved is ever lost
and he was loved so much.